HP’s Facebook games increase traffic, engagement

The PC maker gave college students a chance to win scholarships and new computers for their friends by making profiles and watching videos.

By Matt WilsonOct. 13, 2011

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How much better would college have been if the time you spent playing around actually got you money for tuition or a new computer?

PC maker HP teamed with the folks at Resource Interactive last year to do just that with its Facebook game “Campus Karma.”

The game encouraged students to find out about new HP products and share information with their friends. For every game activity, students earned points which put them closer to winning a $5,000 scholarship for themselves and a brand new HP laptop for a friend of their choosing.

“In the case of students, a lot of what they’ve grown up with is this kind of gaming mentality,” says Lori Leiva, vice president of technology at Resource.

HP approached Resource hoping to gain new fans for its Facebook site for students, which only had a handful of fans, says Resource Creative Director Jason Oleszczuk. “What we did was develop a social strategy where gamification was a part of it.”